PEORIA — The Peoria County Republican Women had just downed a chicken and noodle lunch to mark Abraham Lincoln's birthday when governor candidate Bill Brady served up a new dish: red meat.

The state of Illinois needs to cut spending, fight taxes, abolish bureaucracy, create jobs and spur the economy, the state senator from Bloomington told the crowd of about 100, many of whom nodded in agreement.

"We need a leader in Illinois who has got bold vision, Republican principles — tried, true and tested — that are focused in the conservative values that we all share," said Brady, who had been introduced as a candidate who stands "for traditional values" like opposing abortion rights and gay marriage.

That message worked well in the last primary for governor, carrying Brady to a narrow victory. But come the fall, it left Brady just short — less than a single percentage point behind Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who in the final weeks of the campaign painted his opponent as "too extreme."

Four years later, Brady said he's counting on enough voters having "buyer's remorse" at the decidedly liberal direction Quinn has steered the state. Give him another chance, Brady says, and he'll get the job done.

"I'm the only one who has a base of support in the general election. I'm the one candidate who can win. I got 1.7 (million) to 1.8 million votes," Brady said of his 2010 showing. "No one else has that. Everyone else will be fresh."

But even getting out of the March 18 Republican primary could prove difficult for reasons both geographic and financial. Last time, Brady was his party's only governor candidate from Downstate. Six others from the city and suburbs split the vote thinly enough for the guy from central Illinois to collect 20.26 percent and eke out a 193-vote win over state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, who's also running again.

This time there are only two Chicago-area candidates and another from Downstate: Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford of Chenoa, who like Brady is looking to wring votes from central Illinois and elsewhere Downstate.

Like last time, Brady has very little campaign money for the primary — raising less than $300,000 so far. Winnetka venture capitalist Bruce Rauner has collected nearly $13 million. The wide edge has helped Rauner build a substantial lead, according to a Tribune/WGN-TV poll, even as Brady's familiarity from last time has him in second as he hopes to emerge as the chief alternative as voters start to sharpen their focus ahead of election day.

To that end, Brady is talking up the idea of eliminating the state income tax, a tall task given the state's finances. He's picked a woman running mate from the suburbs to help attract new kinds of voters. And he hopes to keep the backing of fellow Downstaters who might view him as a candidate sympathetic to their concerns.

"I'm the only candidate, I think, who can build the base and bring the party together," Brady said. "I mean, if you're a Republican and you're not adamantly for the tax cuts, you lose the base. If you're a Republican and you're not socially conservative, you lose the base."

Arlene Heinz, who traveled from the outskirts of Peoria to hear him speak this month, said she's considering voting for Brady. "If he can do everything he says, I'm for him," she said.

Bloomington life

Brady, 52, was born in Bloomington and still makes his home in the city of nearly 78,000 that's the corporate home of State Farm Insurance. He went to Central Catholic High School, playing football and finishing fourth as a senior in the 185-pound class of the state's small-school wrestling tournament. He graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University, also in Bloomington, with a degree in finance, political science and economics. While there he met his wife, Nancy. The couple has raised three children, all educated at the private Catholic schools Brady attended.

Brady is the oldest of three brothers involved in homebuilding, an entrepreneur focused on real estate development and sales. Brady Homes, a company they inherited from their father, appears to have done pretty well during the construction boom and struggled as the housing market collapsed. His 2012 tax returns listed him paying more than $37,000 in state and federal income tax on $200,529 in income. In 2008 he disclosed a loss of $116,679 and paid no state or federal taxes.

Brady has had numerous business ventures, ranging from what he said was a money-losing stake in a local semiprofessional football team to a real estate business with 16 employees in Florida, where he also owns a condominium.